Southern Miss football’s new coordinator lays out his plan to reboot the offense
When Southern Miss football coach Jay Hopson set out to find his new offensive coordinator, the main objective was to find someone who can bring balance to that side of the ball.
“We want to be able to pass for 300 (yards) and run for 250,” he told the Sun Herald on Feb. 5. “We want a balanced offense. I think that’s critical to our success.”
Those stats are a very high bar to reach, but it appears that Hopson found someone who has a track record of a balanced approach in former Louisiana-Monroe offensive coordinator Matt Kubik.
With 253.4 yards passing and 207.4 yards rushing in 2019, Kubik’s ULM offense was one of five programs to average 250 yards passing and 200 yards rushing that season, joining Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Central Florida.
At Southern Miss, the goal will be to improve on the rushing numbers of the last two seasons — 117.5 in 2019 and 112.6 in 2018.
“I really think a balanced offense is what we want to be,” Kubik said this week in an interview with the Sun Herald. “That’s what we strived for at the last place. I told the guys guys in our first offensive meeting that we’re going to bring a balanced game plan to the offense.
“We’ll let the flow of the game kind of dictate things. There will be games we throw it more and games we run it a couple of more times. As long as we go in with a balanced approach and let the game dictate what we’re going to do, we’ll be fine. We’ve got to run the football. You’ve got to establish the run game to get things done. If that’s not working, we’ll take opportunities to throw it. I’m not a huge numbers guy. From a statistical standpoint, we were able to stay pretty balanced at Louisiana-Monroe. I don’t see any reason for that to change.”
At ULM, Kubik had a dual-threat quarterback, Caleb Evans, to lead his version of the spread offense. Over four seasons, The 6-2, 210-pound Evans threw for 9,520 yards and 58 touchdowns while running for 2,162 yards and 36 scores.
Southern Miss QB outlook
At USM, Kubik inherits an offense that has mostly been built around redshirt senior Jack Abraham, a pocket passer who occasionally takes off with the ball. His backup, redshirt sophomore Tate Whatley, fits more of the dual-threat mold while redshirt freshman Jaden Johnson is regarded as a pro-style QB who has the ability to run with it.
“It’s good to have the experience with Jack, who is a senior, and Tate has been on the field,” Kubik said. “(Whatley) showed some flashes the year before. I know he came in when Jack got hurt and did some good things. He did some good stuff in the bowl game. With Jaden Johnson, I haven’t seen him, but I watched his high school tape. I know he turned some heads here in fall camp. He’s a big, athletic guy that can fling it around.”
Kubik stressed that he doesn’t necessarily have to have a quarterback like Evans, who had a 67-yard TD run against USM in 2017.
“We were fortunate to have a really good athlete (at ULM), but we’ve got good athletes at quarterback here,” he said. “It’s not a situation where you have to be this type of quarterback to play in the Southern Miss offense. In that staff room, we’ve got enough creative minds to put the quarterback in a position to win games.”
One way that Kubik’s spread offense will look different compared to previous USM schemes is that tight ends will be featured more prominently. Junior tight end Josh Pederson was ULM’s top target in the passing tame in 2019, catching 43 passes for 567 yards and nine touchdowns.
The tight end position will have a big role to play in boosting the rushing attack.
“We rely heavily on the tight end to give different looks,” he said. “We’ve got to be tough, smart. We have to be athletic up front in the ground game.”
USM signed a pair of tight ends earlier this month that Kubik said he really likes — Arkansas transfer Grayson Gunter and Mitchell Sellers of Paradise (Texas) High School. They will join several other tight ends already on the roster, including redshirt freshman Luke Baker, redshirt junior Ray Ladner, redshirt sophomore Cole Cavallo and redshirt junior Naricuss Driver.
USM OC Matt Kubik’s bio
Kubik, who was the starting quarterback at Louisiana Tech in 2004-05, spent the last four seasons as the ULM offensive coordinator. Prior to that, he served in the same role for two seasons at Stephen F. Austin. He also worked as the receivers coach at Northwestern State (2007-10) and Central Arkansas (2011-13).
Kubik has made a step up with each move over the last decade, moving from FCS to FBS.
At Southern Miss, he feels like it was the right decision to answer when Hopson came calling for a second time. Kubik was also in the running for the USM offensive coordinator job in 2018 when his predecessor, Buster Faulkner, was hired.
“I think it’s one of the best Group of 5 programs in the country for a couple of reasons,” Kubik said. “One is the recruiting location. There are so many good football players within a couple of hours’ drive. It’s really a no-brainer as far as the talent level. Number 2 is the support from the community. Every time I pop on film in a cross-over against Southern Miss in a game here at ‘The Rock’ you can tell off the game film that there’s an energy in the stadium. They’ve got a great brand down here in South Mississippi and on the Gulf Coast. Some Group of 5 programs don’t have that support for whatever reason. There’s a winning tradition here.”
As for his management style, Kubik plans to get everyone involved on the offensive staff.
“To me, it’s a very low ego environment from top to bottom,” he said. “It’s an input-based system. I’ve got a talented group of assistant coaches. I want to lean on their input, without a doubt. We want to build this around the personnel. Everybody has got to be on the same page.”
The two offensive holdovers from last year’s staff are co-offensive coordinator/receivers coach Scotty Walden and offensive line coach Ryan Stanchek. The running backs spot is still open after Chris Buckner left the staff after the season.
Kubik has watched film to evaluate players and believes he inherits a strong depth chart.
“The first thing I noticed right off the bat was the team speed, and that’s not just at the skill positions,” he said. “The offensive line is tremendously athletic. Coach Stanchek is really excited about those guys. He mentioned they were a little bit young last year. I’m really looking forward to those guys taking the next step.
“I know we’ve got a couple of receivers that not only give you a deep threat, but also add something with speed sweeps. That gives you an advantage in the pass and run game. Ground game-wise, I think we have a nice stable at tailback. It seemed like every game a different tailback stood out last season. They had a pretty good rotation with guys making plays.”
With USM’s spring practice not expected to begin until after spring break, which takes place March 16-20, Kubik will have some time to settle in.
“It’s a matter of figuring out what your personnel allows you to do,” he said. “With the amount of speed and talent we have on offense, I feel like we can accomplish a lot.”
This story was originally published February 24, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
